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Chenai Museta

THE Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) is rolling out its annual agricultural labour practices (ALP) training workshops for field technicians and other stakeholders in the country’s tobacco strongholds to promote ethical labour practices.

The training sessions bring together various stakeholders to enhance their understanding of the ALP code and its monitoring system to reinforce their commitment to ethical labour practices in the tobacco industry.

The workshop discussions cover a comprehensive range of topics including a refresher on the ALP code provisions, an overview of available labour rights violation reporting platforms and an in-depth session on the ALP monitoring system.

TIMB public affairs officer Mrs Chelesani Tsarwe noted that participants were encouraged to share their experiences and challenges in using the system, which leads to valuable discussions on improving its efficiency and effectiveness.

“Continuous training is essential to equip our field technicians with the latest knowledge and tools to promote fair labour practices in the tobacco industry. By strengthening our stakeholders’ understanding of the ALP code and monitoring system, we can collectively work towards a more ethical and sustainable supply chain,” said Mrs Tsarwe.

The first workshop, held in Harare recently, attracted 86 participants, including 38 TIMB representatives and 48 stakeholders from contracting companies, growers, labour unions and grower representative associations.

Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) manager Mr Casper Mlambo noted that child labour remains a significant concern that the tobacco industry is actively addressing through the ALP workshops.

“As many may know, child labour often has some cultural elements and parents will frequently claim that they are training their children but our primary concern is that these forms of “training” must not involve hazardous forms of work that end up prohibiting children from attending school,” he said.

Mr Mlambo also emphasised the need for contracted farmers to receive sufficient funding to prevent the engagement of children in hazardous work, highlighting that one major concern raised by farmers is the inadequacy of funds provided for their operations.

“We want to encourage contractors to allocate enough money for labour and we are ensuring that those who provide funding offer a sufficient budget for this purpose,” he added.

Furthermore, Mr Mlambo noted that stakeholders aimed to ensure that contracted farmers effectively disseminated this information to their uncontracted counterparts. He added that outreach programmes for tobacco farmers had been extensive over the years, resulting in notable changes. Farmers are now very aware of the implications of child labour and the dangers of non-cooperation.

So far training sessions have been done in Manicaland, Mashonaland Central (pending sessions for Bindura and Mvurwi), Mashonaland East (Marondera). Common challenges and experiences will inform TIMB’s future training efforts and help develop the most effective ALP monitoring tool for the tobacco industry